Whirlpool has appointed Lee Collett as its kitchen channel director.
His new role as kitchen channel director will see him take on further responsibility across all four of the Whirlpool UK brands, working with kitchen distributors, kitchen studios, builders merchants, housebuilders, the contract market and national DIY and kitchen retailers.
Collett joined Whirlpool in 2011 and has been promoted to several roles within the business, including national account manager and channel controller. In that position, he was responsible for building relationships with major e-commerce retailers, including AO and Amazon. Collett also played an important part in the acquisition of Indesit Company by Whirlpool UK Appliances, taking the lead within the Whirlpool sales team.
Collett then took on the role of field sales manager, responsible for sales and distribution of the Whirlpool, Hotpoint and Indesit brands within the independent channel. Recently, his time as channel controller provided an insight and experience in managing the distribution of the premium brand KitchenAid.
Collett said: “I hope to bring a wealth of experience of the entire business into the kitchen channel at Whirlpool UK. Through many years working in various roles, I have an in-depth understanding of how our business works and areas in which we can strengthen.
“As I take on my new role, I hope to see steady growth for the Hotpoint and Indesit brands, in addition to increased awareness and exposure of our more premium brands, KitchenAid and Whirlpool.”
Andrzej Tuleja, general manager, UK and Ireland, at Whirlpool UK Appliances, said: “We wish Lee much success in his new role and I have great confidence that his skills, experience and enthusiasm will be a huge credit to Lee and his new responsibilities. We have four very strong brands in our UK portfolio, with which we’re committed to see grow and flourish, and I look forward to seeing Lee use his expertise to continue to push this forward.”